“……. has left the guild”

How much more can we take? Will we give up? For how much longer can this go on? How many more players have to leave the guild for us to set a record for most players ever left a guild during one patch? What did we do wrong? Why would people want to join us now? Will there be a guild to come back to after my two weeks away on holiday? What should I do if not?

There are so many questions in my head, so many thoughts and almost no answers. So much has happened in the guild lately and this summer. I think about it a lot because I care about the guild but it makes me feel sad and worried. I’ve done what I could with recruitment and motivating, but I’m all out of energy now, I don’t feel like it’s worth it, like it’s possible to make it better again, maybe it’s time to let go and find something new. Most of the leaders and those who care have done a lot to keep it going, to set up raids, lead them, find new players and everything else. It’s not like we didn’t try hard enough, because we all did our best.

I wish I understood why all this had to happen at the same time. Is it just bad luck, a coincidence, the domino effect or was it something we did or didn’t do? I don’t understand. Because there hasn’t been any drama, a lot of wipes, we haven’t been stuck on the same boss and phase for months, we’ve just lost a lot of players and at very bad times. Most just thought the grass looked greener and left for a better guild with better progress, some followed because their friends left, some quit the game because of work or family, some wanted to raid more hardcore, some wanted to start their own guild and I guess some just didn’t like it here. But we’re not that bad. Of course things aren’t perfect, we might not all be the best players in the world, or as serious and hardcore as some might want us to be. We’re just a group of normal people who want to kill some bosses. Of course we wipe, we fail, some might get angry, we do mistakes, but we go again, we get better, we apologize and we keep going. But it’s not very motivating when you know you do your best but still nothing goes your way, people are still unhappy and ungrateful, people still leave and with them follows more and more, it’s like a disease which slowly makes people give up. What should you do when what before was a tight core of good players and good friends suddenly falls apart and people go their separate ways and what’s left is ten people, some were part of that core, but they’re all in doubt wondering what will happen next, and fifteen new people who are confused and don’t really know what’s going on? I understand why some people leave, the new people, they don’t wanna go down with the sinking ship, they wanna jump into the life boat and find a new ship which is more stable and secure. I get it.

A few months ago I thought this would be a good summer, we had a team of really good players and we progressed through Throne of Thunder heroic with a nice speed. Summer came and we still managed to get enough people to raid and clear all farm bosses and progress on those we hadn’t cleared. The first wave of people left but we managed to survive it and went on, but it happened again and again, all through the summer we lost way too many.

Right now it feels like everything is falling apart, one after one they’re giving up, they don’t have much energy left to keep fighting, most have given everything they had for so long and it’s not getting better. It’s not good when you don’t feel like logging on, you don’t feel happy while raiding and you don’t wanna check the forum or the guild log because you fear that more people have left. It’s not supposed to be like this, not for so long. I play this game because it’s fun, or it used to be fun and it’s supposed to be fun. I want that back. I want to be able to log on and look forward to raids, I want the game to make me happy, and I want to play with people I like and enjoy playing with, I want to kill new bosses, do battlegrounds and play on my alts, all this without having to worry about who’s going to leave and what’s going to happen.

I feel like giving up this, but I don’t really want to because I care and want everything to be good again. Right now I’m not sure what I should do.

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11 thoughts on ““……. has left the guild””

I’m so sorry to hear about the problems you’re having. It’s absolutely draining and heartbreaking when that happens.

If you want to recover (and that really is dependent on you — are you too tired to continue? Are you really ready to call it quits yourself?), then you need to examine what problems you’re having, IMHO.

– Why are people leaving? Has anyone explained why they’re leaving? Do people complain about things? What are those reasons? Look for the root cause beneath them if they’re generalized complaints.

– What can you do to fix those root causes, fix those problems? Is it simply progression? If that’s the case, your guild needs to work to crack down on problems that interfere with progression. If it’s a lack of respect in the guild, crack down on that. I’m not sure what problems you’re having, but a lot of the time, it’ll be something about the environment and how it’s lacking something. Find out what it is that you lack that others desire!

– Be prepared to take a step or two backwards before you go forwards. If people are leaving in droves, you need to stop the bleeding and then address the issues and THEN continue with your overall guild goals. Do you know what your guild’s goals are? Write them down, make sure everyone in the guild knows what your guild is about and what you’re trying to accomplish.

I’m not sure if it’s possible to fix it now because we got no leaders left. We’ve lost too many officers and those who are left, including our GM, have had too much and want to step down and find something new and stable. There is none left who wants to or is able to lead. If the officers who are left and the GM leave, then I think it’s over. They’re the ones who started it and made the guild what it is, it won’t be the same without them.

I know this feels like you have done something wrong. Perhaps you have. But honestly…I doubt it. This is unfortunately too common a story/theme in WoW. Yes, people come and go and it doesn’t normally feel like the guild is ending but this feels different right?

Well, look back at your guilds history. End of XPACs generally lead to turn over. Mass exodus can be common when a group of players begin to clash with another group (ie clicks). It’s fairly common but yes it sucks to deal with.

And of course it’s fine for people to openly choose to leave or pursue differing interests as opposed to sticking around and becoming resentful.

My advice: do your best to get in front of any potential problems. Openly talk about the state of the guild and ask the remaining players how they feel. What are their issues if any. Address them and work on the foundation. Then rebuild the house from there.

Ultimately, I say first and foremost: don’t be afraid to take the necessary step for your happiness, whatever that may be. As my friends frequently reminded me not so long ago, it’s a game you should enjoy, and if you’re not, something needs to change. That might mean taking a break as guild leader–or as a guild–and coming back with new energy in a week or two. It might mean asking new people to step into leadership roles, people who still have the energy and desire to lead.

On the other hand, it might also mean going somewhere else. A few years ago, at the end of ICC, I had to leave my guild that I loved (it was the only guild I had ever raided with, and had been with them for 2-3 years at the time). It was the right decision, and in the end, I was recruited back in the guild when things were better.

Your guild may not be out, though! Summer doldrums are bad right now; we’ve seen the raiding population on our server go from almost decent to almost non-existent, with only a few of us still hanging on. For perspective, we are the only guild left who’ve killed more than Jin’rokh on Heroic, 10 OR 25–we’re the number 1 guild on the server at 3/13 simply because there’s no one else progressing.

At the beginning of this expansion, my guild lost 13 raiders in less than 3 weeks. It was a huge blow. We didn’t raid consistently for almost a month. Then, suddenly, there were a lot of people apping to the guild. We had a bunch of fresh faces who were ready to give the content a go and were genuinely excited to be with us. It might not look great now, but there might be something waiting around the corner that’s going to make it shine.

The bottom line is that you have to do what’s best for you. Whenever we feel responsible for making the guild work, we tend to sacrifice our own desires. Take some time over your few days to really decide what’s going to make you genuinely happy to log in again–that’s what you should do.

Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post :) It makes me feel better. But sadly it’s over now. Our GM and the officers talked and we’ve stopped raiding and people are already looking for new guilds.

I’m sorry to hear that. :-( I hope you’re able to find a new guild that makes the game exciting for you again, if that’s what you’re looking for! I would definitely suggest taking a break though–I see you’re going to visit family, that’s perfect! Distance from the situation definitely helps. Hope you have a great time with your family and that everything works out in Azeroth for you, too!

I am so sorry to hear that your guild has died off. From my experience, there would have been a few warning signs before it got to this, but due to burn out or a crazy RL, it’s incredibly easy to miss them. The thing is, if leaders are not quick to put a stop to it, this kind of stuff can rapidly spiral out of control.

In my case, I knew long before the trouble started really brewing that I was not in a position to put a stop to it. I just didn’t have the motivation or willpower, and as others above me have said, the game needs to be fun first and foremost. So I handed over control of the guild, stayed on as an “advisor” of sorts and wandered off to do my own thing. Concur is now going strong because the new guild master is putting in some serious hard yards.

I suspect your GM and officers have been feeling a little bit like me for a while now. It’s just a shame they didn’t pass the torch to someone with passion and time to invest into the guild before it got to this point.

All the best in whatever decision you decide to make. Virtual realms will be here soon, and then the world (of warcraft) will be your oyster! :)

Hi. I’m Syrco!

I play a balance druid and a resto shaman on Kazzak EU in WoW, and a wizard and demon hunter in Diablo 3.
I love games, TV series, books, movies, music, animals and stargazing. Read more about me here.